Support for guard rails



Nov. 27, 1934. J. o. YOUNG 1,982,092

SUPPORT FOR GUARD RAILS Filed Aug. 3, 1934 INVENTOR Juas ON 0. YOUNG ,flym 9* M ATT RNEYS Patented Nov. 27, 1934 umree STATES PATENT OFFICE? SUPPORT FOR; GUARD RAILS Judson 0. Young, SprmgfielmMass.

Application August 3, 1934,. Serial- No.. 733,319- 4 Claims; (01. so4 3e This invention relates to a support for guard guard rail loop 22 is' riveted or otherwise serails to be used in connection: with platforms cured to: strip 15 a.- short distance inwardly of or stagings supported by ladders or the like. the curvedien'dot said strip, and in a position to One object of the invention is to provide a extend: downwardly when the support is in posupport of this character which can be secured sition. The curved ends of the strips 15 and 16' 66 to the sides of the ladder independently of the are" adapted to be: spread apart to receive one ladder rungs, from which the staging itself is of the: side members 19' of. the ladder betweenusually supported, and in a manner to afford them as shown: in the drawing, and the ends sufficient strength at the connection to resist. of the curved: portions are provided with aper-- 1 the: strains which an emergency may throw tures 23-throughwhicl r a'bolt 24 provided with 65 on the guard rail. In some States safety laws a wing nut 25 is inserted. The apertures 23 require that the guard rail which is positioned and 28, later described, are preferably square at the outer edge of the platform sh'all-v be at a and the bolts used are of the carriage bolt type specified height, usually from 36' to 36 inches,. having a. squared portion adjacent the head of my invention to provide a support which turning of the bolts when the wing nuts are apwill meet this requirement Whether the plat plied. A block- 26,. which may conveniently form is positioned closely adjacent the: top of take the form of a piece of channel iron the supporting ladders or at alower elevation, as shown, is pivoted on bolt 24 with its closed 20' either outwardly or inwardly of the ladders. A. face positioned toengage a face of the 75 further object is the provision of means for at ladder side member 19. A plurality of apertaching the support to the ladder which may be tu-res 28 are formed in the strips 15 and 16 easily adjusted to accommodate ladder sides of inwardly of the apertures 23 and are adapted different dimensions and which may be ad-- toselectively receive a bolt 29, provided with a 25 justed in position lengthwise of the ladder with-- wing. nut' 30,, onwhich is pivoted a block 31 so in the space between a given pair of adjacent similar irr form toblock 26-. By properly serungs without removing the support from the lecting the holes 28 through which to insert bolt ladder. 29 ladders having side members 19 of various Other and further objects will be apparent depth dimensions may be accommodated in an 36 from the following specification and claims. obvious manner, the width of the side member 35.

In the accompanying drawing, being accommodated by the spring of the strips Fig. 1 is a general diagrammatic view of a and varying the position of the wing nuts on the staging including the guard rail support of this bolts 24 and 29. As will be clear, the weight invention; of the projecting portion of the support and the 35 Fig. 2 is a side view of the device illustratguard rail 13 tend to clamp the blocks and sup- 9 ing one operative position; port to the member 19 and this clamping action Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating a different is increased when any additional weight such operative position; and as that of a workman is thrown on the guard Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device. rail in case of emergency. The blocks 26 and 31 4-3= Referring to Fig. 1, which shows in general are made of sufiicient length to distribute the the manner in which the device is used, 10 forces placed upon them over a sufficient surdesignates spaced ladders which support a stagface of the member 19 to support the maximum ing or platform 11 by means of conventional emergency load they will be called on to bear. brackets or jacks 12 which engage the rungs The curvature of the strips 15 and 16 permits 4-3 of the ladder. The guard rail is shown at 13 the supports to be positioned closely adjacent 1% and the guard rail supports are generally indithe top of the ladders, as shown in Fig. 2, and still cated at 14. position the guard rail 13, which is placed in Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the guard rail loops 20, a distance a above the platform 11 support is shown as comprising two flat metal to meet the prescribed requirements. The disabove the platform and it is a further object engaging inthe squared openings to prevent 7U 5G strips 15 and 16 each curved at one end in the tance a may be varied within the distance beplane of the strip as indicated at 17 and 18. tween ladder rungs by merely raising the free Strip 15 is provided at the opposite end with at end of the support to relieve the clamping action loop 20 to receive the guard rail and the two of the blocks and then sliding the support to the strips are riveted or otherwise secured together desired position, or for smaller adjustments by *5 adjacent loop 20 as indicated at 21. A second selection of an aperture 28 permitting a greater 11g" downward swing of the support before the blocks engage the sides of the ladder. The curvature of tween the platform and the rail.

The supports are applied to and removed from the ladder side by the temporary removal of bolt 24 and block 26, in an obvious manner. To promote convenience in handling the device, block 26 is preferably secured to the support by means of a chain 35. v

As will be clear from the above description, the guard rail support is carried entirely by the side of the ladder and failure of the rungs of the ladder which support the staging will not affect the strength or stability of the guard rail; Furthermore by curving the support and placing the second guard rail loop on the under side,

the support may be placed closely adjacent'the' top of the ladder even when the latter'is placed beneath aprojecting roof, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and yet position the guard rail the necessary distance above the staging platform. V f

I claim:

l. A device of the character described which comprises an elongated memberprovided at one end with means for receiving a guard rail, means at-the opposite end for releasably clamping the device to the side member of a ladder, the last named end of the elongated member being curvedto position the rail supporting end substantiallyfork members formed at the opposite end to receive a side member of a ladder between them, and two blocks pivoted between the fork members in position to engage opposite faces of the side member of the ladder, said forked members being curved to position the guard rail supporting end of the elongated member substantially higher than the blocks when the latter are in clamping engagement with the faces of the side of the ladder.

3. A device of the character described which comprises an elongated member provided at one end with a loop to receive a guardrail, spaced "fork members formed at the opposite end to repositionto engage opposite faces of the side memberfof the ladder, one of said blocks being adjustable toward and from the other, said fork membersbeing curved to position the guard rail supporting end of the elongated member substantially higher than the blocks when the latter are in'clamping engagement with the faces of the side of the ladder,'and a second guard rail receiving loop secured to the under side of the elongated member adjacent its forked end.

' 4. A device of the character described which comprises two elongated fiat metal members, one of said members being provided at one end with a loop to receive a guard rail, the second member being secured in face to face relation to the first member adjacent said loop, the free ends of saidstrip being spread apart to engage opposite side faces of a side member of a ladder, two blocks pivoted between the strips in position to respectively engage the front and rear faces of theside member of the ladder under the weight of the strips, one of said blocks being adjustable toward and from the other, said free ends of the strips being curved to ofiset'said blocks and po,-' sition said guard rail receiving loop substantially higher-than the blocks when the latter are in clamping engagement with the side member of the ladder, and a second downwardly extending guard rail receiving loop secured to one of the stripsadjacent its ladder engaging end.-

' JUDSON O. YOUNG. 

